Weekly Report - 10 January 2019 (WR-19-01)

URUGUAY: Buoyant Blancos go on the offensive

Politics normally takes a holiday this time of year in Uruguay but this was manifestly not the case in the first week of 2019. The centre-right Partido Nacional (PN, Blancos), buoyed by polls suggesting that it could end its 15 years in opposition in October’s presidential elections, is turning up the heat on the left-wing Frente Amplio (FA) government led by President Tabaré Vázquez. The government’s mealy-mouthed stance on Venezuela has provided the PN with its main line of attack.